Numerous complaints about robbery and other crimes in the community of Kaneville, on the East Bank of Demerara, has pushed the government to intervene and offer technical and vocational training programmes to the youths.
In an effort to keep the young people of Kaneville engaged and employed, the Ministry of Labour and the Guyana Police Force will soon start a number of training programmes to provide direct employment to the youths.
The programmes are all free of cost and include mechanical and electrical engineering, welding and fabrication, as well as cake decorating and catering and agro-processing, among others.
In order to be certified after, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton during a visit to the community on Wednesday said the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) is tasked with executing, evaluating and monitoring of the programmes.
The minister explained that trainees will be given a stipend throughout the programme and they can also be involved in more than one programme. Programmes will also be available during the day as well as during the night.
Additionally, information and technology programmes will also be added to the list of programmes. Hamilton said he hopes the young people will take advantage of the opportunity.
The residents now have to recommend trainers from the community and also identify a place for the training.
“I wouldn’t want to bring somebody from Georgetown to do training in Kaneville, once you have someone in the community and its environment – Diamond, Grove- who can be an instructor, we ask the Chair on the Council and the NDC to recommend that person to us,” the minister explained.
According to Minister Hamilton, this initiative will extend to communities across Guyana and will also cater to retired persons.
“When we talk about training all the time, we just training young people and whilst we will continue to train young people, I believe we must fashion training programmes for retirees.
“A woman at 55 or a man at 55 who retire and are still strong healthy and well, they are mature and have experience, they can give to the community still,” Minister Hamilton said.
The meeting on Wednesday was also attended by BIT’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Maughn; Senior Technical Officer, Rondell Jordan; Commander of Region Four ‘B’, Senior Superintendent Linden Isles; and the community’s Neighbourhood Democratic Council Chairman, Geta Ramnarine.
